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International locations: Villages and Towns
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Whether you’re after unspoiled, traditional provincial settlements untouched by the passage of time, or busy, bustling centres bursting with energy, don’t worry – there’s plenty to choose from, and, should you dare desire anything with subtler shades, you’ll probably manage that as well.
Europe
Europe is such a culturally diverse and historically rich continent that it’s easy to find many different kinds of communities and styles. One common stereotype is the notion of quaint old Mediterranean villages refusing to be unchanged by modern life – but when it comes to sourcing locations, this can be really handy.
Spanish villages in the Sierra Norte, like the romantically-named Cazalla de la Sierra, certainly fit the bill. Likewise villages in the hilly interiors of islands like Corsica and Sardinia, on Greek islands like Lesvos, and the white-walled Portuguese houses surrounding Lagos in the Algarve. They may have accepted electricity, television and motorised transportation, but these are about the only concessions to modern life which have pierced the thick hides of these fiercely traditional communities.
Outside western Europe, Hungary, for example, has villages like Hollóko, a charming old-fashioned village whose 40 inhabitants continue to wear national costume. Then there’s the Czech Republic’s historical towns, like Cesky Krumlov, Kutna Hora and Zatec, which have, in the past, been used as substitutes for Paris, Vienna, Berlin and various American cities, as they feature an extensive range of architectural styles and periods. Then there are spa towns like Karlovy Vary, which features in the latest Bond outing, Casino Royale.
The Romanians like to set photographers a challenge. They say it’s virtually impossible to drive westwards from Moldavia into Maramures, the country’s most traditional region, without stopping for a picture. Each village gets progressively more distinctive with wooden houses all featuring sculpted designs, walls painted with flowers and towering carved wooden gates – until finally you reach the village of Ciocanesti, the most ornately decorated of all.
Transylvania’s medieval towns offer a darker, gothic style. Don’t get lost in the narrow streets and cobblestoned passageways of Brasov, Siblu and Sighisoara.
Kovatsevitsa, a Bulgarian village high in the mountains of Bulgaria, is sheltered under the great peak of Rhodopi in more ways than one: the village was created as a community for refugees who fled from invading Turks in the mid-17th century. Kovatsevitsa retains its authentic spirit and beauty to this day, and is often used as a location, with 20 films having already been shot here by Bulgarian film studio Boyana. Other ancient hilltop towns include Labin, in Croatia’s Istria region, and Vigolo Marchese, high in the uplands of Emilia-Romagna.
On the other side of the Apennines lies Tuscany, the epitome of beautiful Italian countryside. Literally towering above all others is the village of San Gimignano, which sits serenely on a hill overlooking the Elsa Valley. Its many towers were built as symbols of prosperity by the village’s medieval merchants; and today San Gimignano is extremely popular with tourists, keen to enjoy the cultural treasures gathered here so long ago.
The Tuscan spa town of Montecatini is a bustling tourist town – a far cry from its namesake, Montecatini Alto, the medieval settlement which perches on a cliff-ringed hill above, watching carefully over its more modern counterpart.
An area of Europe underused for filming is Scandinavia, which can convey an uncertain sense of place when shot in the snowless summer months. Sweden’s towns like the seaports of Ystad and Malmö easily mix old and new, while quieter, medieval towns like Jakriborg combine Functionalist architectural styles with traditional elements to create a relaxed – and rather tidy – atmosphere.
Further north, Finland is worthy of mention because of its range of settlements. Pick and choose from any number of factors to get the flavour you want – how much Russian influence? How much history? How much localism? Or try an unusual town like Hamina, which is laid out on an entirely octagonal plan.
The Canary Islands have every kind of personality – big and small, traditional and modern. Resorts like Los Cristianos, with its shopping malls, night life and first-class hotels mix with the colonial dignity of towns like Garachico and villages such as La Orotava and Arona.
Asia/Australasia
Although Australia is the most sparsely populated country of them all, the urban east coast is extremely built-up and home to the vast majority of the population. Within reach of riverside Brisbane, with its high-rises and veranda-clad Queenslanders, the tiny village of Springbrook on the Gold Coast has small, Swiss-style chalet cottages and is one of the most unique resorts in Australia, situated as it is in a calm, quiet rainforest area.
Way down south in the Blue Mountains, quaint little teahouses and craft shops also nestle among turn-of-the-century buildings in the historic town of Leura. Elsewhere in the upper Blue Mountains are Katoomba and Blackheath - or Rhododendron Town – named for the many colourful varieties of the shrub which burst into bloom every November.
Hong Kong is the kind of place you need for a whole variety of eastern village and town locations. The Kwun Tong town centre, developed in the late 50s and early 60s, has ultra-modern looks with shopping malls containing banks, gold shops, boutiques and cinemas, as well as old-town looks in areas like Yue Mun Square, Ngau Tau Kok Road and Mut Wah Street. Sai Kung Town is a scenic tourist spot on the waterfront and Tung Chung in Lantau, though developing, retains features of its past as a village of fishing ponds and rice-paddy fields.
For less generic Asian locations, one needs to travel a little deeper into the unknown, but it’s certainly worth it because there are plenty of unusual locations available. On the island of Borneo in Indonesia, for example, Banjarmasin on the Martapura and Barito Rivers, is known as the ‘Venice of the East’. Don’t be surprised to see people bobbing up and down on their way to houses, shops and even petrol stations, as the entire settlement is built on floating platforms.
Africa
Across the breadth of the Mediterranean is the Egyptian city of Alexandria, which possesses all sorts of film locations – from beaches and gardens, to striking buildings and city scenes, all mixed together with ancient, historical and religious sites.
More unconventional though, is the vertically-challenged Tunisian village of Matmata, whose houses are dug into the ground in circular craters. George Lucas gave Matmata the thumbs-up after using this location for Star Wars: Attack Of The Clones, commenting that Tunisia is an ideal country to film in. Indeed it is.
Far away, in the wastes of the Namibian Desert, lies Kolmanskop – a deserted, eerie, even sinister, diamond-mining town where several old buildings still stand, half-filled with sand dunes. Don’t be surprised to see tumbleweed rolling across from screen left, as if on cue. This is the perfect ghost town.
South Africa’s towns also possess wonderfully individual characters. They include Knysna’s famous forest and beautiful lagoons, Franschoek in the heart of the Cape Winelands and Dullstroom’s breathtaking scenery, distinctive décor and local colour. Of course, South Africa also retains remnants of its troubled past – the townships of Soweto outside Johannesburg, are the sites of many famous anti-Apartheid protests in the 70s and 80s.
Off mainland Africa lies the tropical paradise of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean, whose beaches sparkle with glorious colours. The island’s settlements are universally idyllic; though people do work here, of course, in fishing villages like Mahebourg in the south east. Ancient stone buildings house the traders who work in this bustling, vibrant market town. Other villages possess a strange colonial appeal – the best example of colonial architecture being the town hall at Curepipe – which creates a sense of timelessness here. Empires might fall, but the towns and villages of Mauritius remain the same.
The Americas
The sheer size of territory covered by the USA gives it an impressive variety of styles. Kotzebue in the Northwest Arctic Borough of Alaska is the place for filming Eskimo villages, ten of which close-by have populations which are over 80 per cent Eskimo. In such a harsh climate there is not much in the way of tourism, which means that Kotzebue’s characteristics, like its Front Street being lined with fishing boats and fish drying on racks in the traditional Eskimo way, are entirely authentic.
In the small towns of middle America you’ll find places with populations of under 25 to over 90,000, ranging visually from the ‘old west’ style to uncompromisingly modern. Live Oak in Florida is a typical ‘small town’, its Saturday markets canopied by old oak trees whose boughs drip with Spanish moss. Lewistown, in Montana’s vast Judith Basin, is a town which has it all. Starting life as a small trading post, later on a team of Croatian masons and Norwegian craftsmen arrived to build it up to a town of lasting beauty. Nearby the old gold town of Maiden, whose population was once as high as 1,200, is now completely deserted.
The west coast of Ontario in Canada is filled with picturesque little towns like Bayfield and Goderich, which lie alongside the brilliant blue waters of Lake Huron. The area is renowned for two distinctly different reasons: magnificent floral gardens for those with green fingers, and a plethora of historic old jailhouses for those with slightly more macabre tastes.
Central American character can be found in the Mexican heartland, where towns like Tlaxcala and Huamantla are known for their fairs, convents and haciendas. Many places in Mexico have regular festivals – like the running of the bulls in Aguascalientes, or the Cervantino Festival in the colonial city of Guanajato.
In the Gulf of Mexico, the islands of the Caribbean have their well-known and distinctive cultural tastes. The major towns, including Bridgetown on Barbados and St John’s and Parham Town on Antigua, are a mixture of picturesque alleys, over-hanging verandas, waterfronts and stately public and religious buildings. Together, they constitute an architectural record of the island’s four centuries of settlement.
In the wild plains and harsh sierra of Chile’s North Highlands, stone and mud houses stand alongside corrals and agricultural terraces. Somewhere amongst them are also churches; with their ornate bell towers, doors with baroque carvings and polychrome decoration in the altars, these churches stand as monuments to the strength of the Christian and traditional faiths that exist in the region. One example is Caspana Town – one for the most committed of film crews, as it stands at 3,260 metres above sea level.
Also in Chile, Isla Negra is a small and beautiful village located on a rocky point on the coast, roughly parallel to Santiago, and is flanked by some of the best beaches in the country. The Cordoba Lagoon is one of the highlights of the region, but the main attraction is the beach house which used to belong to Pablo Neruda.
Over in Brazil, there exists, in the Mato Grosso do Sul, a hilly yet humble town known as Bonito – that is – Beautiful. Enormously popular with backpackers, the name is wholly appropriate, with its crystalline rivers, grottos and waterfalls.
For a South American take on wine growing, travel to Argentina’s Mendoza province. The capital, also called Mendoza, hosts a festival celebrating the annual grape harvest, at the end of February and beginning of March. In keeping with the agricultural style of the area, Mendoza’s roads are all tree-lined.
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